20 Best Crab Bait For Dungeness (2023 Updated)

Thursday, April 21, 2011, spent the day fishing the Gulf of Maine for cod. I am a great believer is scent when it comes to down to catching any kind of fish, from catfish to cod or haddock! This was my first experiment using Fishbite products when deep-sea fishing for ground fish.

Since I would be jigging for cod in over 250 feet of water, I opted to use Fishbite’s longer lasting version of scented bait, since it was suppose to stay on the hook longer and be less likely to be nibbled off by any fish.

For the bait to be “nibbled off the hook” when jigging, was not a factor to be taken into consideration, but having the scented bait stay on the hook for longer periods of time, was a prime consideration.

I was impressed with this Fishbite product! The scented bait appears to be molded into a guze=like material that is VERY STRONG! Once the strip of Fishbite was impaled on a hook, IT STAYED THERE and was even difficult to take off the hook, hours later.

I used a 3. 5 inch strip of Fishbite impaled on a jig and a shrimp imitation teaser to add scent to my terminal jigging rig. The combination worked for me, for I limited out on cod! Scented sauces, sprayed on scents, and oil-type of scent baits tend to wash off the jigs and teasers quickly.

and they can make a slippery mess on a boat deck or any surface. Not a Fishbite product! Fishbite scented baits are NOT expensive and are surely worth a try. Semper Fi, Captain.

Added this along with fresh bait to hold it on and worked really well. The texture was definitely gross after sitting in the water for a while but over all, very well made.

I’ve been using Fishbites for many years now with great results! It stays on the hook very well (crab meat is among the hardest to keep on a hook especially when casting), releases a good scent in the water, and it actually catches fish when compared to the real thing! I use the white Crab in the Longer Lasting scent formula and I catch Spot, Croaker, White Perch, Spadefish, Whiting, Speckled Trout, Ladyfish, and on occasion Striped Bass.

I’ve used this over the last few years after reading a lot of reviews. I like the long lasting, because it really is. You can put a piece on and it will last hours if it’s not abused by the fish. The only reason I didn’t give it 5 stars is because after you open the package, you pretty much have to use all of it while you are fishing, I mean in like a week or so.

I’m only surf fishing for a week at a time and I literally never run out of this stuff in a weeks worth of fishing. I usually have a couple strips left over and it doesn’t last through the winter and I’ve got to buy another packages.

Yeah, I lose 2 strips out of a $6 package of bait. Not a big deal, but it’s still not perfect. For performance, this stuff is amazing. If you don’t catch anything with it, its because there are no fish to eat it.

It doesn’t really do better than live bait head to head until you consider that it will stay on the hook until you catch a fish, and most of the time until you catch 5-10 fish PER PIECE!!!! You will likely get more bites off of live bait, but you will also lose a lot of bait from pinfish, crabs and other bait thieves.

So you may catch 3 fish for every 5 shrimp you throw out and the bites may come slightly more often than the fishbites, but the fishbites will yield more fish over the long run. Dollar for dollar I would say it’s 2-3X more effective that the real stuff, maybe more.

I cut them in about 1″ chunks as soon as I open the package, that way you aren’t fumbling with a knife in the surf or boat. I’ve used them on the surf, in the waterways, in brackish water and deep sea fishing.

I’ve caught small sharks, redfish, pompano, trout, whiting, porgies, ruby red lips, vermilion snapper, trigger fish, lots of catfish and others that I couldn’t identify. This is great for kids, because it’s clean to put on a hook and they can abuse it and it will stay on the hook.

This stuff will always be in my tackle box when I’m fishing salt water. I’m going to try the fishin’ chunks this year for red snapper fishing.

I am a big fan of fishbites and have been using them for years. They are very productive and it is nice not having to bait the hooks after every cast. The long lasting (blue bag) versions are what I use and I have tried every variety.

The long lasting version has a mesh backing and is intended for use when the water is at least 65 degrees. Occasionally some mesh is left behind on a hook and when that happens I cut the mesh with a pair rapala scissors intended for braid.

I also use the scissors to cut the fishbites. Out of all the varieties, I have had the most success with shrimp but they all will catch fish.

like the headline reads, they simply catch fish! soaked some small strips on a double dropper rig and caught a 24″ Black drum in about 10 mins! We ate well that night! whiting loved them as well!

My husband and I love this stuff. We have tried the mullet and shrimp, and both are excellent for saltwater fish. It seems to really get them to bite the lure, and sticks really well. It takes several casts before it washes completely off, even then the smell still lingers afterward.

The only downside is when you get it on your hands, it is so sticky, you will need soap later to get it off. But that is why it works.

I use this on my ned rig and craw. It looks like it washes off but the smell does not. It stays on the bait and your fingers. Take an old rag with you (it doesn’t come out of clothes very easy). I believe it entices bites and helps the fish to stay on for a good hook set.

Used for outrigger stabilizer for my canoe. Perfect!

Found that one 6X14 float worked great replacing two 5X11 floats that I was using on my pots.

I use these for fishing off the beach in the Gulf. So far works great.

Great product love it durable easy to work with always use it

Never fails me when fishing. Hard to be pulled off by fish.

Looks incredibly life-like, lots of natural movement in the legs as it sinks. The belly plate of the crab is actually the weight, a very nice subtle detail. This bait sinks incredibly slow making it great for sight casting to sheepshead munching on pylon barnacles near the surface.

In deep water situations or with string current, I recommend adding split shot weights to your line or even using a Carolina rig.

Decided to throw fresh water and caught 4 bass, missed 5, and caught a softshell turtle. The bait does not have a scratch. Can’t wait to take it to the gulf

Awesome action and very realistic looking. Great item to have against any crustacean eating fish. Made with TPE so be sure to store in original packing between fishing.

I was able to get 1 for each of my kids ,caint wait to hit the ocean with these

May have to replace lines with something heavier

Chasebaits Smash Crab Junior – 2.95 in. When the snooks do not want to bite, you work it slowly with few movements and it is very effective. Ideal in clear and flat waters where you can see the fish.

Bream are clambering over themselves to put this bait in their guts, deadly when worked along rock walls and around pontoon/jetty. It takes a flogging and doesn’t need a lot of action.

Excellent lure for flathead of all kinds, i found it needed ball sinkers of various sizes for casting and depth tho. Slow wind with paused works best.

I love this stuff! I try to marinate my bait in it then pour a little on after each pull. I catch crab when others right next to me don’t. My secret weapon

I tried it on shrimps on Sakhalin island, Russia. Soaked herring in for couple of hours then dropped the traps. I checked them an hour later and they were full. Next day I was snorkeling and saw my traps underwater.

The mesh was cowered with shrimps. The smell just put a spell on them) The thing works hard!.

We tried two pots with this bait and two without. Both fished pretty much the same but this stuff is messy! This pink residue just gets all over the boat. The taste of shrimp outweighed cleaning the boat so we will probably buy it again next year.

I bought the 3 inch size Crab which in 80 feet of water in The Gulf of Mexico out of John’s Pass in Maderia Beach was the “Ticket” to catching Keeper Red Grouper. My buddy and I were catching small “baby” Grouper early on, then I remembered I had these 3″ crabs.

Well I put one on my rig with a long strip of cut bait ( looked like crab was eating the strip), LIGHT’S OUT! I caught 6 Keeper size Red Grouper in a row, all on the one crab. My buddy was shocked. We kept our limit and returned the others to live another day.

No offense to Savage Gear, but I bought this product thinking it would suck. I threw it out and boom, big old Redfish. I used it everywhere and caught everything from perch to drum. The thing with TPE lures is that they last for about a week, then the melt in your tacklebox.

It ruined my $12 LIVETARGET swimbait because the rubber melted and stuck to the swimbait. R. I. P Crab and swimbait.

Paired this lure with a MagicTail Game Changer Tog Jig – 1. 5oz – Green Crab. The amber glow lure color pairs well with the orange and gold color (bottom is orange) of the tog jig. Hook size (5/0) is just right.

I got up before daylight to check online for the fishing conditions. It looked like a perfect morning to fish, but I had no bait except for a bag of Fishbites Fish ‘n’ Strips Sand Flea that I had ordered from TackleDirect.

com. So I headed out and got a rod set up before the sunrise. I was working a lure with my second rod when I heard my first rod fall over and hit the sand. Something big had pulled the sand spike over.

I fought that fish for what seemed like an eternity, and when I finally got him onto the beach, I was surprised to see it was a Permit. Passersby were equally shocked to learn that it was caught on Fishbites Fish ‘n’ Strips Sand Flea.

I posted a video online of the amazing catch: https://www. youtube. com/watch?v=tkQ0x5iL8tc.

Awesome! These precut crab strips had the fish going crazy. The fish ate the whole strip compared to the longer strips. I did not find the shrimp precut strips. I prefer the pre cut strips verses the long strip.

FishBites are easy to use and stay on the hook. I bought these for a trip to St. George Island in the Gulf of Mexico. They are convenient when it is inconvenient to locate or keep fresh bait on the beach for surf fishing.

They will stay on your hook through long casts and multiple fish. Highly Recommend.

I love Fishbites. It works great, but this particular package that Dick’s sold me was so old, or stale, or whatever, that it was hard as a rock, looked ancient and I could hardly get it on the hook. Fishbites is generally a great product.

Honestly, I blame Dick’s for selling me a package that was either really old or had not been stored properly. I should have taken it back, but I didn’t. I just threw it away and won’t be ordering this product from Dick’s again.

Lots of the reviews on this page are for the incorrect product. A lot of the low reviews are for a crab pot or crab trap. This is a HOOP NET. I have used this hoop net exclusively the last several for catching lobsters here in so cal.

and it works great. It’s a well made product and has not worn down. If you are using this in an area where there a lot of sea lions, i would highly suggest getting Promar’s Seal Proof Bait Cage as your only going to continuously lose bait and not catch anything.

The Promar Ambush Hoop Net is not as ruggedy made or weighty as more pricey models I’ve seen. However its a very adequate net for recreational crabbing. The three-ring design seems to be more effective in keeping crabs in the net while raising tbe trap than two-ring models.

Very well made product but it is disappointing. It will not stay on the bottom where the crabs are — any current lifts it up, up and away!